Just How Potent Are Florida's Teacher Unions?

Not very, according to an analysis authored by researchers Chester E. Finn Jr. and Amber Winkler, that appears today in the pages of National Review; indeed, our teacher unions are among the weakest in the nation:

"[A]re union biceps as brawny as ever, or growing flabby with age? Short answer: It depends, particularly on which state (or the District of Columbia) you look at, and at what point in time. Thats the central finding of our recently concluded three-year study of the relative strength of teacher unions state-bystate.

"We looked at state-level unions because so many crucial education-policy decisions are made in state capitals, not in Washington or locally. Unsurprisingly, every state is home to at least one affiliate of either the National Education Association (NEA) or the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), often both. (Four states host joint NEA-AFT affiliates.)

"We examined three dozen data points --more than anyone has previously attempted --that bear on different aspects of union strength. These include membership and money, involvement in politics, the range of issues subject to collective bargaining, the extent of alignment between state education policies and traditional union interests, and the unions perceived influence, as gauged by state-level insiders.

"Here is what we found: The teacher unions of Hawaii, Oregon, Montana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and California are exceptionally strong, while those in Mississippi, Virginia, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Arizona are among the weakest. States that require school districts to negotiate with their local unions tended to rate 'strong' on our metric --but not always. Florida, for example, mandates collective bargaining yet ranks 50th in overall union strength. (Only Arizona has weaker teacher unions.) Thats largely because the Sunshine State does not allow unions to automatically collect 'agency fees' --the equivalent of mandatory dues --from nonmember teachers. Hence those unions revenues --and lobbying and advocacy efforts --are constrained."

{Source: "Just How Potent Are Teacher Unions?"}